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Cafe Scientifique is pleased to invite you to our latest presentiion - 3 renown speakers on the topic of Sea Lettuce.

Doors open at 6:30pm for 7pm start. $5 door fee to cover venue hire.

Please register on Eventbrite so we know the number to cater for. NO need to print the ticket.

Everybody who lives in Tauranga and the Western Bay knows about it. For most of us, it’s a pest and something that spoils our experience of our coastline.

So what is it? Why do we have so much of it? And can we do anything about it? Might there actually be benefits from the stuff?

These questions are the focus of this presentation from a team of locally based experts; including Professor Chris Battershill, Chair in Coastal Science from the University of Waikato, Rebecca Lawton, Environmental Scientist at Bay of Plenty Regional Council, and Ralf Schlothauer, Adjunct Professor at University of Waikato and former head of science at Comvita.

We’ll be reviewing the science about sea lettuce, examples of what’s being done with internationally, and opportunities for Tauranga. We’ll also be showing how local design-led approaches are combining with scientific knowledge to suggest exciting potential initiatives for the region.

Speakers:

Rebecca Lawton: Rebecca has a PhD in coral reef fish ecology and diverse experience across the fields of marine ecology and aquaculture. She has previously worked for the former Ministry of Fisheries, the Egyptian office of the international NGO WorldFish Centre, and most recently as a research scientist on a macroalgal biotechnology project in Australia. This project investigated how macroalgae can be used to clean up dirty water and innovative valuable products that the algal biomass can be converted into. Rebecca works now at the Bay of Plenty Regional Council as a Coastal Scientist. In this role she manages research projects and undertakes State of the Environment monitoring for Tauranga Harbour..

Professor Chris Battershill:Chris holds the inaugural Bay of Plenty Regional Council Chair in Coastal Science, based in Tauranga and heads the Coastal Marine Group in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Waikato. Formerly Principal Scientist and Research Team Leader (Supporting Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity) at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), his research focuses on marine ecology and environmental science, and he was responsible for the establishment of the first dedicated marine biodiscovery teams in Australia and New Zealand, focusing on the medicinal and agricultural sectors.

Dr Ralf Schlothauer: Ralf gained his PhD from the Technical University of Hamburg in Bioprocess Engineering then became a lecturer with Massey University before accepting a role as a research engineer. Following a return to Germany to work in the area of functional foods and probiotic bacteria with Danisco, Ralf joined Comvita in January 2006 as Chief Technology Officer with overall strategic and functional responsibility for research and development. Ralf led Comvita’s innovation team (CIL) at the Institute for Innovation and Biotechnology (IIB) at The University of Auckland. Currently Ralf is working as a consultant for food and biotech companies under his own consulting company “Whio-Innovations”, based in Tauranga, and is and adjunct Professor at the University of Waikato.